Research

The Nobel Prize was established in accordance with the will of Swede, Alfred Nobel – inventor of dynamite and holder of more than 350 patents. Awarded annually since 1901, the Nobel Prize is the first annual international award to recognise achievements in Physics, Medicine, Chemistry, Peace and Literature. Nobel prizes have been awarded to members of Cambridge University for significant advances as diverse as the discovery of the structure of DNA, the development of a national income accounting system, the mastery of an epic and narrative psychological art and the discovery of penicillin.

Affiliates of University of Cambridge have won more Nobel Prizes than those of any other institution.

• 88 affiliates of the University of Cambridge have won the Nobel Prize since 1904.
• Affiliates have won in every category, with 29 Nobel prizes in Physics, 25 in Medicine, 21 in Chemistry, nine in Economics, two in Literature and two in Peace.
• Trinity College has 32 Nobel Prize winners, the most of any college at Cambridge.
• Dorothy Hodgkin is the first woman from Cambridge to win a Nobel Prize, for her work on the structure of compounds used in fighting anaemia.
• In 1950, Bertrand Russell became the first person from Cambridge to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, for his 1946 work, ‘A History of Western Philosophy’.
• Frederick Sanger, from St John’s and fellow of King’s, is one of only four individuals to win a Nobel Prize twice. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958 and 1980.

Cambridge’s Nobel Prize winners

• 1904 Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh), Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for discovering Argon
• 1906 J. J. Thomson, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for investigating the electrical conductivity of gases
• 1908 Ernest Rutherford, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for atomic structure and radioactivity
• 1915 William Bragg, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics for analysing crystal structure using X-rays
• 1915 Lawrence Bragg, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for analysing crystal structure using X-rays
• 1917 Charles Barkla, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for discovering the characteristics of X-radiation
• 1922 Niels Bohr, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for investigating atomic structure and radiation
• 1922 Francis Aston, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Chemistry, for work on mass spectroscopy
• 1922 Archibald Hill, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for work on heat production in the muscles
• 1925 Austen Chamberlain, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Peace, for work on the Locarno Pact, 1925
• 1927 Charles Wilson, Sidney Sussex CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for inventing the cloud chamber
• 1927 Arthur Holly Compton
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for discovering wavelength change in diffused X-rays
• 1928 Owen Richardson, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for creating Richardson’s Law
• 1929 Frederick Hopkins, Trinity / Emmanuel CollegesNobel Prize in Medicine, for discovering growth stimulating vitamins
• 1932 Lord Adrian, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for work on the function of neurons
• 1932 Charles Sherrington, Caius College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for work on the function of neurons
• 1933 Paul Dirac, St John’s CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for quantum mechanics
• 1935 James Chadwick, Caius College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for discovering the neutron
• 1936 Henry Dale, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for the chemical transmission of nerve impulses
• 1937 George Thomson, Trinity College,Nobel Prize in Physics, for interference in crystals irradiated by electrons
• 1937 Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Fitzwilliam College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for combustion in biology
• 1945 Ernst Chain, Fitzwilliam College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for the discovery of penicillin
• 1945 Howard Florey, Caius CollegeNobel Prize in Medicine, for the discovery of penicillin
• 1947 Edward Appleton, St John’s College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for discovering the Appleton Layer
• 1948 Patrick Blackett, Magdalene / Kings Colleges
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for nuclear physics and cosmic radiation
• 1950 Bertrand Russell, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Literature, for A History of Western Philosophy, 1946
• 1950 Cecil Powell, Sidney Sussex College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for photography of nuclear processes
• 1951 John Cockcroft, St John’s / Churchill Colleges
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for using accelerated particles to study atomic nuclei
• 1951 Ernest Walton, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for using accelerated particles to study atomic nuclei
• 1952 Richard Synge, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for developing partition chromatography
• 1952 Archer Martin, Peterhouse
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for developing partition chromatography
• 1953 Hans KrebsNobel Prize in Medicine, for discovering the citric acid cycle
• 1954 Max Born
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for fundamental research into quantum mechanics
• 1957 Alexander Todd, Christ’s College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for work on nucleotides
• 1958 Frederick Sanger, St John’s College and fellow of King’s CollegeNobel Prize in Chemistry, for the structure of the insulin molecule
• 1959 Philip Noel-Baker, King’s College
  Nobel Prize in Peace, for work towards global disarmament
• 1962 John Kendrew, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for determining the structure of haemoproteins
• 1962 Max Perutz, PeterhouseNobel Prize in Chemistry, for determing the structure of haemoproteins
• 1962 Francis Crick, Caius / Churchill Colleges
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for determining the structure of DNA
• 1962 James Watson, Clare College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for determining the structure of DNA
• 1962 Maurice Wilkins, St John’s CollegeNobel Prize in Medicine, for determining the structure of DNA
• 1963 Alan Hodgkin, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for the transmission of impulses along a nerve fibre
• 1963 Andrew Huxley, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for the transmission of impulses along a nerve fibre
• 1964 Dorothy Hodgkin, Newnham / Girton CollegesNobel Prize in Chemistry, for the structure of compounds used to fight anaemia
• 1967 Ronald Norrish, Emmanuel College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the study of fast Chemical reactions
• 1967 George Porter, Emmanuel College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the study of fast Chemical reactions
• 1972 Rodney Porter, Pembroke CollegeNobel Prize in Medicine, for the chemical structure of antibodies
• 1972 John Hicks, Caius College
  Prize in Economics, for the equilibrium theory
• 1972 Kenneth J Arrow, Churchill College
  Prize in Economics, for the equilibrium theory
• 1973 Brian Josephson, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for the tunneling in superconductors and
  semiconductors
• 1974 Patrick White, King’s College
  Nobel Prize in Literature, for an epic and psychological narrative art
• 1974 Martin Ryle, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for the invention of aperture synthesis
• 1974 Antony Hewish, Caius / Churchill CollegesNobel Prize in Physics, for the discovery of pulsars
• 1977 Nevill Mott, Caius / St John’s Colleges
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for the behaviour of electrons in magnetic solids
• 1977 Philip Anderson, Churchill College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for the behaviour of electrons in magnetic solids
• 1977 James Meade, Christ’s/Trinity Colleges
  Prize in Economics, for contributions to the theory of international trade
• 1978 Pyotr Kapitsa, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for inventing the helium liquefier
• 1978 Peter Mitchell, Jesus College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the energy transfer processes in biological systems
• 1979 Abdus Salam, St John’s CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for electromagnetic and weak particle interactions
• 1979 Steven Weinberg
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for electromagnetic and weak particle interactions
• 1979 Allan Cormack, St John’s College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for developing CAT scans
• 1980 Walter Gilbert, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Chemistry, for the theory of nucleotide links in nucleic acids
• 1980 Frederick Sanger, St John’s College and fellow of King’s College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the theory of nucleotide links in nucleic acids
• 1982 Aaron Klug, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the structure of biologically active substances
• 1983 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for the evolution and devolution of stars
• 1983 William Fowler, Pembroke College
  Nobel Prize in Physics, for the evolution and devolution of stars
• 1983 Gerard Debreu, Churchill College
  Prize in Economics, for reforming the theory of general equilibrium
• 1984 Richard Stone, Caius College and fellow of King’s CollegePrize in Economics, for developing a national income accounting system
• 1984 Cesar Milstein, Fellow of Darwin and Fitzwilliam Colleges
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for developing a technique for the production of monoclonal antibodies
• 1984 Georges Kohler
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for developing a technique for the production of monoclonal antibodies
• 1989 Norman Ramsey, Clare CollegeNobel Prize in Physics, for developing the separated field method
• 1996 James Mirrlees, Trinity College
  Prize in Economics, for studying behaviour in the absence of complete information
• 1997 John Walker, Sidney Sussex College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for studying how a spinning enzyme creates
  the molecule that powers cells in muscles
• 1998 Amartya Sen, Trinity CollegePrize in Economics, for his contributions to welfare economics
• 1998 John Pople, Trinity College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the development of computational methods in quantum chemistry
• 2000 Alan McDiarmid, Sidney Sussex College
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the discovery and development of conductive polymers
• 2000 Paul GreengardNobel Prize in Medicine, for discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system
• 2001 Tim Hunt, Clare College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle
• 2001 Joseph Stiglitz, Caius College
  Prize in Economics, for analyses of markets with asymmetric information
• 2002 John Sulston, Pembroke CollegeNobel Prize in Medicine, for discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death
• 2002 Sydney Brenner, King’s College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death
• 2005 Richard R. Schrock
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis
• 2007 Martin Evans, Christ’s College
  Nobel Prize in Medicine, for discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells
• 2007 Eric Maskin, Jesus CollegePrize in Economic Sciences, for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory
• 2008 Roger Y. Tsien, Churchill / Caius Colleges
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP
• 2009 Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Darwin College, PhD 1975Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase
• 2009 Venki Ramakrishnan, Trinity CollegeNobel Prize in Chemistry, for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome
• 2010 Robert G. Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Human ReproductionNobel Prize in Medicine, for the development of in vitro fertilization